Bw horizon in Holocene slope deposits (Kratzeburg, NE Germany) – dating and pedological characteristics

Abstract

A soil-sediment sequence in NE Germany has provided information about the duration and intensity of formation of a Bw horizon in Holocene slope deposits. With a combination of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), 14C- and archaeological dating methods, colluvial layers taken from a former castle wall trench constructed during the Bronze Age were dated. With this chronology, the relative age of the postsedimentary Bw horizon formation within the colluvial sediments was derived, resulting in the first valid pedochronological data (maximum and minimum age) for a Holocene Bw horizon in NE Germany. The horizon was formed within 2400 years. Weathering and brunification have altered the Holocene parent material. However, the geochemical characteristics of the Holocene soil formation are weak compared to Bw horizons from the Late Glacial and the Late Glacial to Holocene. The results presented here enhance our understanding of soil formation processes in northern Germany, while highlighting the role of colluvial layers as sedimentological tracers of Holocene soil formation processes.